I was a bit surprised by the announcement but (if I race next year) it’s moved quickly towards top of the list.
I did Bolton twice so it was unlikely I’d ever do it again, and nice to have a full in England that’s a bit more accessible. If the bike route is good, it could be a crowd pleaser.
Lake Tahoe! Exiting a XTERRA triathlon swim. 
Possibly a stupid question: I don’t love the downtube aero bottle that came with my bike, so I’ve just been rocking regular bottles (one BTA and one BTS). Is there any aerodynamic benefit or penalty to leaving the aero bottle in place if I’m not gonna use it? Couldn’t find anything after some cursory googling so I’m guessing it’s so marginal it doesn’t matter either way, but I’m curious if anyone has an opinion.
What types of handlebar is mostly used in 70.3 or full IM? And when it is more hilly route? Because I want to upgrade my bars but because I also use my bike a lot indoors I think I prefer a base bar like the profile desing c with some more angled ends…
Or is it better to just use the common flat base bars??? But as new athlete I think I will ride the bars sometimes and maybe some angle to place the hands (just like in the hoods on a road bike) is better. Or is there no difference and just go for a normal flat base bar?
Is there an advantage over using a full TT cockpit over a base bar with clip on aerobars?
I would assume it’s designed to be more aero with the bottle, but check with the manufacturer by email.
The bars should match the bike. A road bike should have road bars, and add clipons if you want to. A tri bike should have tri base and bars.
A tri bike will always be faster, if you train on it.
Indeed ;-). But maybe I did not express myself in a correct way (not native english ;-)).
Main question I am asking myself is the tri base bar with angled ‘wings’ (or how do you name these things?) better for when riding more uphill sections, than the flat base bars? (which you see mostly).
like this?
Ah. I’ve not experienced those, most are flat.
Sorry it’s a bit late. Training has been going well and I’m currently in taper with IMWales approaching this Sunday.
I’ve been incorporating drills in my swimming, which I think has been helping. My B race local triathlon ended up being a duathlon due to rough seas. So entered a couple of local swims (1,500m & 3,000m) to get the feel for being punched and kicked etc. Thoroughly enjoyed those and I’m averaging 2:00min/100m which has been my target, so pretty happy with that. My sighting seems to be pretty good too.
The bike has been my strongest discipline through training, mainly due to picking up the slack caused by my running injury last year. As such, I can get around the course in 30 mins less time than anticipated, although I’ll likely save some of that for the run though as the weather looks like it is going to be warmer than usual. Plan is to average 175w (FTP 250w 3.5w/kg) for the bike, keeping HR as low as possible.
Really happy that my knee is good. I initially thought I would be walking a lot of the run, but it strengthened up well. A marathon is uncharted territory for me, especially at the end of a lengthy swim and bike, but looking at somewhere between 05:30-06:00min/km for the run. Hopefully go under 13 hours.
Tapering isn’t much fun either. Have felt tired, but eager. Just want to get out there and smash some hills, but the tiredness has me questioning that 
Long ride/brick question:
I’m using the TR LV full plan for IM California with one exception, I’m incorporating a couple of long rides with long bricks (two of them). These will consist of a 5 hour ride, followed by a 13 mile run. I pulled this from another plan, and from some reading on Slowtwitch. I’m hoping to gain some insight into my pacing for the race. TR has me doing a 5 hour ride via intervals. The plan I pulled this from and my readings at Slowtwitch suggest going slightly above race pace for the entire ride. The thought being that if I can hold that and run well, then I should be good for a predicted 6 hour bike and the full marathon in the race. My current race plan is to do the bike at a .67 IF, so the training ride would be done at around .68, if that goes really well maybe I do the next brick (3 weeks out) at .69, and if that goes well adjust my race IF up a bit.
Any thoughts on this? Have any of you done similar with good results in the past?
Tell me you’re an Ironman without telling me you’re an Ironman…
Generally speaking I can’t think of any coach advising half marathon brick sessions, if anything they tend towards having very few brick and/or very short.
If this is a one off like a half iron before a full, so your biggest session in the plan then it would make sense.
Tailoring it to a TR plan, I would look to back off other running that week.
A big factor in this whole question is where you are on the scale of Newbie/BoP to AG Champ? If a half marathon is an easy 1:45 jog for you then that’s a different question to someone who has it an all out 2:30.
I did a 70.3 in Tahoe last month, ran the half in 2:04 at 6000’ elevation. My open half is probably around a 1:45 at sea level. I did an open marathon (CIM) last December in 3:49. So not fast by any means, but not a slug.
Yes, I would for sure drop some running the week of or after. Or just follow the TR plan. Or keep second guessing myself and drive myself nuts, lol.
I’ll post a full race report later this week, but Tri-Cities was top notch. Fast, pleasant swim, awesome bike course, and a lovely run. I’d totally do this race again next year.
Will be following this thread for the remainder of the year and into 2025.
Interested to hear from @DanF his view on Ironman California once he completes it. I’m targeting that one for 2025 with 2-3 70.3 tune up priority 2 races prior.
It’s been a decade since my prior 70.3 races and I’ve done plenty of back-to-back century rides, but my run is where I struggle. Not worried about finishing, as I’m confident I’ll make the bike cut-off, but I’d like to have a good experience and a solid overall time. Open to suggestions and looking forward to the community. Thanks in advance.
I’ll be sure to report back after race day!
I did the swim course 2 weeks ago. So fast! My fastest open water 70.3 was 38 minutes, although this was done in Truckee CA at nearly 6k feet elevation so not totally relevant. My time for the IMCA swim was 48 minutes. The current REALLY pushes you along.
I should be right at 6 hours for the bike. It’s super flat and straight, you can stay aero for all but a couple minutes of the entire bike course.
I have ran portions of the run. At first it looked like a mess of a course, but I think the layout is going to be really cool. You can have family or friends hang at the tower bridge and see you 6 times before you head into downtown towards the finish.
This is my first full IM, pretty stoked as it’s just 5 weeks out!
Welcome back to long course triathlon! 
There’s loads of good advice here, have a browse, ask some questions. If youve done it before you’ll know the basics, I’d say there are a few more ways to skin the cat in the ten years that have passed, but consistency and progressive overload are still the same.
More emphasis on rest, nutrition and strength these days.
Sounds great, I’d emphasise comfort over cda if you’re down for six hours. Good luck and enjoy!
@DanF
I did IMCA last year and doing it again this year. Its to close to me being in Reno not to go back. The biggest unknown factor for this race is the weather, as seen from the past races. It can be sunny, windy, rainy, snowy or all the above this time of the year. Last year was perfect for most of the day until it started to rain later in the day.
I would say the swim is faster then what people thing. The current really pushes you. I was thinking I was going to be around 45 mins and swam 39 mins. I was really surprised. The only thing is where to 2 rivers come together, make sure you are farther right then left of the buoy. If you are left of the turn buoy, you will have to swim upriver to make the turn and you may have a hard time getting to it. It’s a fairly long run to T1.
The bike is really simple, flat and fast. There are a few rough bits of road so be prepared. Babel Slough Rd. really sucks and the last 2 or so miles of each lap. After Babel Slough the roads are really smooth but don’t have a shoulder and have a drop off. Just be wary of that especially on the second lap when everyone is on the bike. Last year there was an ambulance for someone who I think accidentally went off the side.
The run is decently nice. 2 laps with a few out and backs. I was about halfway through the run when it started to rain. It flooded parts of the Discovery Park trail. Wasn’t a huge deal but just something of note. It rained for about 45 mins and then stopped. It started to rain again about 1 hour after I finished and it continued the rest of the night.
I finished in 9 hours and 1 min last year. Hope to be in the 8 hour 30-40 min area this year. Good luck to all those racing this year and upcoming years.
Was anyone else at IM Wales this weekend just past?
